Monthly Archives: December 2009

As a critic, I hate to admit this: top ten lists get on my nerves. Sometimes I like them. There are a (very) few movie critics with whom I nearly always agree, and whose lists provide me with some way to make sure I didn’t miss anything vital this year. Book lists are handy for finding new books to read. But I question the purpose … MORE »

I’ve been watching the History Channel series Life After People over the last couple of months. Not everyone in my household shares my fascination with watching our most significant built environments crumble and decay under the fast-forward storytelling of computer generated simulations. I particularly like the timeline where they take snapshots of the day after, then a week, year, and eventually 10,000 years after … MORE »

I hope this isn’t totally self-serving, but at that other magazine I edit, I ran an article on Friday by Rebecca Horton about local activism. Not too many years ago, a college professor kicked off my college senior-year Public Policy practicum course with a single book and a simple objective. The book: Design Like You Give a Damn, an inspiration source for those thinking up … MORE »

I am always inspired and rejuvenated by design magazines. Architecture, interior design, industrial design, do-it-yourself, and many other categories challenge my thinking and open up new possibilities. I was re-reading a back issue of Azure and Nov/Dec 07 was as great as the first time I read through it. I seldom have the luxury of buying high-end materials with which to build my projects. … MORE »

I am deep into grading my students’ final exams and revised papers, and so grammar is much on my mind—which explains my sheer delight when I ran across this grammar challenge, given by none other than David Foster Wallace to his students in a nonfiction writing workshop. Across the top of the worksheet, it reads: IF NO ONE HAS YET TAUGHT YOU HOW TO AVOID … MORE »